Черноморские немцы: история и расселение в Украине и за её пределами.

Ethnic group in Ukraine

The Black Sea Germans ( Schwarzmeerdeutsche; черноморские немцы; чорноморські німці) are ethnic Germans who left their homelands (starting in the late 18th century, but mainly in the early 19th century at the behest of Emperor Alexander I of Russia, ), and settled in territories off the north coast of the Black Sea, mostly in the territories of the southern Russian Empire (including modern day Ukraine). Black Sea Germans are distinct from similar groups of settlers (the Bessarabia Germans, Crimea Germans, Dobrujan Germans, Russian Mennonites, Volga Germans, and Volhynian Germans), who are separate chronologically, geographically and culturally, but not mutually exclusive groups.

Germans began settling in southern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula in the late 18th century, but the bulk of immigration and settlement occurred during the Napoleonic period, from 1800 onward, with a concentration in the years 1803 to 1805. At the time, southern Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire. Designated New Russia, and often colloquially South Russia (or Südrussland by its German speaking inhabitants), these lands had been annexed by the Russian Empire during the reign of Catherine the Great after wars against the Ottoman Empire (1768–1774) and the Crimean Khanate (1783). The area of settlement was not as compact as that of the Volga territory; rather it was home to a chain of colonies. The first German settlers arrived in 1787, first from West Prussia, then later from Western and Southwestern Germany and Alsace, France; as well as from the Warsaw area. Catholics, Lutherans, and Mennonites were all known as farmers (see Molotschna for Mennonite settlements in the Melitopol area); the Empress Catherine, herself an ethnic German, sent them a personal invitation to immigrate to the Russian Empire, as she felt they would make useful subjects and enrich her realm. She granted them privileges such as the free exercise of their religion and language within their largely closed communities, also exempt from military service and taxation.

In the late 19th century, both changing political conditions and growing hostilities towards Germans from Russia caused many Black Sea Germans, as well as Volga Germans, among other Germans from Russian communities, to begin migrating to North and South America, especially to Canada, the United States and Argentina.

The first Black Sea German settlements in the United States were established in 1873 near the town of Lesterville, South Dakota, but they soon spread throughout both Dakotas. Lutherans and Catholics were the largest groups among the Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas. Other settlers from the Black Sea were Russian Mennonites and Hutterites, as well as Dobrujan Germans who had briefly lived in southeastern Romania. By 1920, an estimated 70,000 Germans from Russia lived in North Dakota, most of them were Black Sea Germans, in addition to Volga Germans. There, most Bessarabia Germans, Black Sea Germans, Crimea Germans, and Volga Germans became wheat farmers. Currently, it is estimated that 30 40% of North Dakota's population is of German from Russia descent, primarily Black Sea German. North Dakota State University maintains an archive, the Germans From Russian Heritage Collection, concerning this immigrant group.

Due to the increasing scarcity of farmland in the Dakotas of the United States, many Black Sea Germans resettled in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, where they left descendants. The Canadian Prairies, especially in the province of Alberta, received Black Sea Germans, especially between 1900 and 1913, when the expansion of the railway branches made them easily accessible to new settlers. Previously, from the Black Sea region, Canada had already received Russian Mennonites. However, the forced assimilation policies implemented by Canada caused many Russian Mennonites to begin emigrating to various Latin American countries beginning in the 1920s.

The first contingents of Black Sea Germans arrived in Argentina in 1898. Volga Germans, who had begun migrating to the country 20 years earlier, outnumbered Black Sea Germans at all times. Thus, many of them joined Argentine towns where there were already Volga Germans and in other cases founded their own colonies. Many of the Black Sea Germans who arrived in Argentina came from the Black Sea colonies München, Speier/Speyer, Rastadt, Landau, Rohrbach, Manheim, Karlsruhe, Kandel, etc. They settled, mainly, in the southwest of Buenos Aires Province and in the east of La Pampa Province. In 1905, some Black Sea German families bought land in Estancia El Lucero, in Coronel Suárez Partido (Coronel Suárez Partido has been simultaneously one of the epicenters of the Volga German settlements in Argentina), Buenos Aires Province. The next year, other Black Sea German families founded Colonia Monte La Plata, in Villarino Partido, same province. Many others settled in La Pampa Province, where there were already Volga German colonies, too. In this second province, Colonia San José (in English: "Saint Joseph Colony") was one of the examples of coexistence between Volga Germans and Black Sea Germans in the country. It had been founded by Volga Germans and later several Black Sea German families joined. In its cemetery, a long central path perpendicular to its entrance divides the land in two: on one side are the graves of the Volga Germans and their descendants, and on the other are the graves of the Black Sea Germans and their descendants. Over the years, its inhabitants have migrated to other Argentine towns or cities; however, this cemetery is a testimony of the way in which both German communities have cooperated in the country, without losing their own identities. In addition, this particularity facilitates any search. Regarding the Russian Mennonites, in 1877, a small group had arrived in Argentina and settled near Olavarría, in Buenos Aires Province. However, they were not conservative and soon assimilated with Germans living in that area. Instead, in the 1980s, the first very conservative Russian Mennonite colony (Old Colony Mennonites) was founded in the country. Its inhabitants are descendants of the Russian Mennonites who had fled Canadian forced assimilation policies in the 1920s. At that time, their ancestors settled in Mexico. But then, some of the later generations considered they were also in danger of assimilation there, so they left Mexico and settled in Argentina and other countries. This colony is located in the former Estancia Remecó (in English: "Remecó Ranch"), 40 km from Guatraché, in La Pampa Province. Curiously, Guatraché is, at the same time, one of the Argentine towns where the majority of the population is made up of Volga German and Black Sea German descent. Later, other Russian Mennonite colonies were founded in other places of Argentina.

After the Bolshevik Revolution and the formation of the Soviet Union, Black Sea Germans, prior to World War II, were subjected to the forced starvation of man made famines, the closure of German language churches, schools, and community organisations, and were required to change their language of instruction from German to Russian. The 45,000 Germans in Crimea (along with other Black Sea Germans) were forced into exile in Siberia and Kazakhstan, many into forced labour camps.